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Flooding hits Middle Tennessee; child missing, man dead

Flooding hits Middle Tennessee; child missing, man dead

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Hickman County Flooding

Flooding hits Middle Tennessee; child missing, man dead

The road access to this HIckman County bridge was washed away after Thursday's torrential rains. A six-year-old boy was swept from his mother's arms as she, with another son and another woman tried to escape their compact car after they tried to cross this bridge through the flood waters Thursday. (Staff photo by Susan W. Thurman)

Flooding hits Middle Tennessee; child missing, man dead

The Maury County Water Rescue Team launches a raft into the Duck River to search for a missing Hickman County 6-year-old. The team had assisted in the successful rescue of a Hickman County boater stranded in another part the Duck River outside Centerville about an hour before. Visit www.c-dh.net for a related video. (Staff photo by Kate Coil)

Flooding hits Middle Tennessee; child missing, man dead

Members of the Maury County Water Rescue Team search the brush just below the bridge where a six-year-old boy went into flood waters Thursday after the vehicle he was riding in with his mother another woman and his brother was caught in flood water running across a bridge in Hickman County. (Staff photo by Susan W. Thurman)

Flooding hits Middle Tennessee; child missing, man dead

Maury County Highway Department employee Jason Campbell continues working on a retaining wall located at the entrance to Stoneybrook subdivision despite the raging waters of the overflowing Little Bigby river. (Photo by Vanessa Curry)

Flooding hits Middle Tennessee; child missing, man dead

Flooding hits Middle Tennessee; child missing, man dead

A rock wrapped in police tape denotes the spot where 72-year-old Ralph Barr was killed Thursday morning when flood waters off Denson Road near Summertown swept Barr’s vehicle off the road. (staff photo by Rebecca Croomes)

Flooding hits Middle Tennessee; child missing, man dead

A utility pole stands partially submerged in the waters of Beaver Creek Thursday after torrential rainfall left parts of Middle Tennessee underwater. The State Highway 420 bridge connecting Summertown with neighboring Ethridge, not shown, was temporarily closed as a swollen Beaver Creek made it impassable. (staff photo by Rebecca Croomes)

Flooding hits Middle Tennessee; child missing, man dead

The swollen Beaver Creek in Lawrence County spills over a bridge on State Highway 420 Thursday. The bridge was temporarily closed, separating the communities of Summertown and Ethridge. (Staff photo by Rebecca Croomes)

From Staff Reports

A Hickman County child was swept away and a Lawrence County man drowned Thursday as flash floods swamped Middle Tennessee.

The 6-year-old boy was reported missing in Hickman County after a car his family was riding in became stuck in floodwater after attempting to cross a bridge off of East Beaverdam Road south of Centerville around 2 p.m., Hickman County Sheriff Randall Ward said. Two adult females and three other children were rescued from the vehicle, Ward said.

The compact car the boy and his family were riding in began filling with water after being swept away by the river, Ward said. The family attempted to escape and the boy’s mother was holding on to him as they exited the vehicle, Ward said.

However, the mother lost her grip on the boy and the family were separated by the water, he said. The two adults and three other juveniles were able to get out of the water and were given medical treatment then released, Ward said. The two adults and other members of the boy’s family then returned to the scene to aid in search efforts.

Ward said search efforts reached from near the intersection of Sulphur Creek Road and East Beaverdam Road where the child was last seen, up to the Coble community. Crews are checking all the bridges in the area, but Ward said the structures have suffered damage from the floods. A Hickman County rescue boat was overturned during the rescue efforts.

“It floods real bad when it comes a heavy rain like we got,” Ward said. “All the creeks and rivers are out of their banks.”

The search for the child was called off at dusk, but Ward said it would resume in the morning. Divers with THP and the Maury County Office of Emergency Management swift water rescue team were also dispatched to help Hickman County officials. Emergency service personnel from Centerville, Shade Grove, Hickman County and other surrounding areas all contributed to the search effort.

The Maury County swift water rescue team was diverted while en route to Hickman County to a second call on Highway 50 West to rescue a stranded boater on the Duck River, according to the Maury County Fire Department. Maury County OEM Director Mark Blackwood said the team rescued an adult male in his 60s who had become stranded on a small sand bar in the river after his boat suffered mechanical failure. Blackwood said it was unclear why the man was boating given the weather conditions.

In Lawrence County, Gerald Ralph Barr, 72, of Lawrenceburg, was pronounced dead at the scene after his car was swept against a tree by rising creek water, according to a report issued by THP.

Barr was driving a four-door 2001 Kia Sephia on Denson Road toward Highway 240 near Summertown Thursday morning when he came across a part of the roadway that had been covered by rising creek water, according to THP. Barr attempted to cross the flooded road, but the water swept his car against a tree where it became fully submerged.

It was unclear how long he was trapped in his vehicle.

Barr’s friends and neighbors gathered outside Clark’s Grocery and Lumber, about a block from where the accident occurred, to speculate on the circumstances.

“He was a very good friend of mine,” said Frank Clark.

Clark founded the store and said Barr would come in at least once or twice a day.

“(He) came in here and sat in the chair and talked to everybody that came in here,” he said. “He was very outgoing (and) talked all the time.”

Those gathered at the gas station said they think the accident happened about 6:30 a.m. — the time Barr typically made his way to the store — but they didn’t see first responders drive by until about 8:30 a.m.

“I thought a lot of him,” Clark said.

In light of these incidents, the Maury County Office of Emergency Management released a statement asking local residents to be cautious on roadways, particularly those near creeks and rivers known to flood. Emergency officials said Thursday they are continuing to monitor county road conditions as rainfall continues.

Homes and businesses in Maury County were also damaged by flash floods. Potts Grocery, 2497 Santa Fe Pike in Santa Fe, sustained damage the canopy covering its fuel pumps.

Owner Linda Potts said it happened about 1:15 a.m. Thursday. A neighboring resident reported to Potts that she saw the panels blow off about that time.

“(The panels) flew out across the road in the field across the road, and some of them were laying on the pavement out in front,” Potts said.

The store was last remodeled in 1992, and the Citgo gas company will repair the damage from the storm, she said.

Potts said she was glad nobody was injured from the flying panels.

“This is the first time that we have had any wind damage to the canopy or anything,” she said. “It had letters on it, and they were just scattered everywhere and broken.”

Potts also said a large tree limb fell near the back of the business, close to the residential home and caused minor damage to a dog pen.

In Columbia, water overflowed from the Little Bigby River and blocked residents from leaving or entering the Stoneybrook subdivision. Employees with the Maury County Highway Department were called out to prevent conditions from worsening.

Crews with Columbia Power and Water spent much of Thursday afternoon restoring power outages in the western part of the city, according to the company’s Facebook page. Lightning strikes on utility poles and trees caused some power outages throughout the county in the early morning hours.

CPWS crews responded to outages in the Trotwood Avenue and west 7th Street area as well as downtown Columbia, Williamsport and Mooresville areas, General Manager Wes Kelly said.

Power outages were also reported along the Maury-Lewis County line, the Duck River Electric Membership Corporation said on its website. In Marshall County, DREMC was also working on power outages in the Cornersville area and Rich Creek community south of Henry Horton State Park.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Department reported several roads were flooded and at least three had to be closed by emergency officials. Richard Dorning Road near the Kimmins community in the northern part of the county was closed because of flooding. Two roads along Rockhouse Creek were also closed, Firetower Road toward Waynesboro and Dial Hollow Road south of Hohenwald.

The National Weather Service in Nashville also reported across Maury, Giles, Hickman and Lewis counties and in the northern areas of Lewis, Lawrence, and Wayne counties. Flash flood watches remain in effect for Maury, Lewis, Hickman, Giles and Perry counties as well as northern Lawrence County until noon Friday.

As many as 8 inches of rain have fallen in some parts of southern Middle Tennessee, and the weather service said up to 3 more inches of rain could fall by Friday night.

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